By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, April 24: The standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the prevention of Covid-19 in Bintulu could be further tightened to include fines issued for vehicles on the street after 8pm tomorrow.
Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing in a statement yesterday said he has recommended to the Bintulu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (BDDMC) to review and tighten several SOPs from this Sunday onwards.
One of those includes issuing fines to motorists who are still on the street after 8pm.
He noted that enforcement personnel have been performing advocacy work to advise the public to do so for the past week.
Tiong pointed out that enforcement personnel will enforce the rule if anyone continues to defy the SOPs.
“Strict enforcement will be carried out on vehicles driving out after the stipulated hours and will be told to turn back if the drivers cannot provide valid reasons,” he said.
Tiong gathered that based on current traffic flow in Bintulu, there was no significant decrease in traffic volume since the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) was implemented.
He said enforcement personnel had no choice but to get tough on curfew violators including business premises which stay open after 8pm.
He believed if the Covid-19 situation in Bintulu does not improve, the CMCO could be turned into Movement Control Order (MCO).
On another note, Tiong who is also the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president urged employers in Bintulu to strictly implement the 70 per cent work from home (WFH) rule or face legal action.
He noted many irresponsible employers have refused to cooperate and have threatened their workers with termination or salary cuts if they do not turn up to the workplace.
“I want to remind these employers that once their actions are reported by their employees, they are liable to face legal action including being charged in court.
“In order to contain the pandemic here (in Bintulu), everyone must strictly comply with the SOPs instead of repeatedly trying to avoid following them for the sake of convenience.
“All must strive to work from home and stay home except for those who are unable to work away from the workplace,” he added. — DayakDaily
